1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle seatbelt apparatus, a vehicle having the seatbelt apparatus, and a method for controlling a vehicle seatbelt.
2. Discussion of the Background
Conventionally, there is known a seatbelt control apparatus, in which a determination whether or not a passenger wears heavy clothing is made based on information such as an ambient temperature outside a vehicle, a set temperature of an air conditioner, a time and date, a present position, and an in-vehicle temperature which influences the clothing of the passenger. When the passenger wears heavy clothing, the degree to which a seatbelt is taken up is adjusted if the vehicle approaches an obstacle (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-263077). The contents of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-263077 are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
With the conventional seatbelt control apparatus, the determination whether or not the passenger wears heavy clothing is indirectly made simply based on the information which influences the clothing of the passenger. Therefore, because the loosened state of the seatbelt does not properly reflected in the adjustment of the taken-up degree of the seatbelt, possibly the passenger feels excessive discomfort in taking up the seatbelt.